Future of design systems — Figma Schema 2025 keynote

What the video covers

Figma’s annual Schema conference keynote (2025 edition), presented by Chief Design Officer Loredana Chrysam, VP of Product Paige Costello, and developer advocate Jake, announces a set of features that position design systems as the machine-readable foundation for AI-assisted building. The keynote covers three pillars: making design systems adaptable, connecting them to codebases, and preparing them for AI workflows.

Who it’s for

Design system practitioners, design engineers, and product leaders who need to understand Figma’s strategic direction. Particularly valuable for anyone managing a design system in Figma who wants to know what is changing in how systems connect to code and AI tools.

Key takeaways

1. Design systems become AI context. The central argument of the keynote is that design systems are evolving from static component libraries into rich context layers that AI tools can read. When a design system is well-defined in Figma and connected to a codebase via MCP, it stops being a reference document and becomes a set of instructions that AI agents follow.

2. Code Connect and MCP close the design-to-code gap. Code Connect maps Figma components to their code implementations. Combined with MCP, this creates a two-way link: designers see production-accurate component behavior in Figma, and AI code generators know exactly which component to use and how to implement it.

3. Make Kits let design systems power AI generation. Figma’s Make Kits feature lets teams package their design system in a way that Figma’s AI tools can use to generate new layouts and screens. Instead of AI generating generic UI, it generates UI that follows the team’s actual design language.

4. More people building means design systems matter more, not less. Chrysam frames AI as expanding who can build digital products, which makes design system governance more important. Without a well-maintained system, the quality of AI-generated output will vary wildly.

5. The conference reflects an industry shift from “design systems as documentation” to “design systems as infrastructure.” The features announced position design systems not as something designers maintain for other designers, but as critical product infrastructure that affects engineering velocity, AI output quality, and cross-team consistency.

Worth watching if…

You maintain a Figma-based design system and want to understand the product roadmap features that will change how your system connects to AI tools and code generation workflows in 2026.